


Damnations Requiem

by Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood



Category: Hellraiser & Related Fandoms, Hellraiser (Movies)
Genre: Action, Blood and Injury, Casual Sex, Dark Humor, Drama, F/F, F/M, Family, Gore, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Possessive Behavior, Revenge, Smut, Swearing, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:28:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29923104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood/pseuds/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood
Summary: At just 16 Zoe Winters loses her parents a horrific home invasion/murder that leaves only herself and elder sister Katrina alive.Hellbent on avenging her parents deaths, Zoe also becomes the latest victim of the Lament Configuration, but with pain, betrayal, the threat of eternal torture looming in every shadow, Zoe may find that she, in fact, feels more alive than ever. Particularly when the spark of a dark and twisted romance is ignited. Zoe never thought of herself as a victim anyway... but a survivor.
Kudos: 1





	1. Dead Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Hoping I don't get roasted (flayed alive) for this but as a therapeutic/cathartic exercise I finally decided to write and post my own OC centric Horror fanfic! 
> 
> All hits, Kudos and Comments are very much appreciated - Constructive criticism only please

**PROLOGUE**

It was late, and as cold as one could expect in the middle of London, Englands’ coldest months. Despite the chill in the, admittedly warm house, it was not enough to deter the 16 year old that had been disturbed from her sleep by raised voices from downstairs. Thinking it was her parents berating her 20 year old sister for breaking curfew, it wouldn’t have been the first time, the young girl pushed her dark brown hair from her face and padded downstairs to ask them to keep it down and, seeing the kitchen light on, that was where she assumed they were. 

Yes, she saw her parents...but not only was her sister absent, but their parents were slumped on the kitchen floor, with two males standing over them threateningly, one with a gun, the other with a knife.

“Mum?” 

The fearful teen jumped when her mothers eyes snapped open, looking too wide for her heart shaped face, and she shouted for her daughter to run. In blind panic, the young girl did as she was told, immediately she was pursued by the man wielding the knife!

First she tried to run upstairs, she needed her phone, to get the police…The air was torn from her lungs however, when her body slammed down onto the staircase as her ankle was grabbed, and the knife stabbed into the floor beside her head!

She screamed and struggled until she was free, squirming out from under the man who was more than twice her weight, she tripped towards he door of the basement and threw open the door, not stopping even to switch on the light, however this resulted in her screaming as she slipped and tumbled down the steps until she landed whimpering, on the concrete floor. 

Hearing one of the intruders thundering down after her, somehow keeping his balance better than she had, the brown haired young woman, now sporting a bloody gash on her forehead, close to her hairline, scrambled up and darted to the back of the basement where the laundry room was! 

The man was yelling after her but she didn’t look back, throwing open the door and locking it behind her, the terrified teenager wedged herself between the washer and a cabinet as the intruder began hammering on the door, stabbing into the wood with his weapon! 

Pressing herself back against the wall, several gunshots could be heard, along with screams and the shriek of police sirens...The poor, shaking teen covered her mouth with her hands with a fearful cry, This was a nightmare...it had to be!


	2. Flash Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine years after their parents are killed, Zoe, now 26 is living with her sister, Katrina, who is a 31 year old secretary for a top business in the area - and everything Zoe aims not to be as she treads her own path in life.

9 years later.

The slam of the door of the flat made the woman look up from the laptop and paperwork spread across the breakfast table with her vicinity. She looked up expectantly, but with an expression one might hold when waiting for tragic news as a younger woman, with shoulder length brown hair walked past without looking at her but the older woman spoke up

“Well?” she urged.

The second woman, younger only by around 4 years, paused and turned around. There was no denying that the two were related, sisters in fact. But in contradiction to the first womans’ professionally maintained, chocolate brown bob style hair cut, the younger of the two had hair that reached her shoulders, with the tips being in desperate need of a cut and conditioning. And now a significant front section of her hair had been bleached and dyed white blonde, combed over the right side of her face. 

Her elder sisters expression fell

“Oh Zoe. Really?” she sighed in disappointment

Zoe, the younger of the two, rolled her eyes

“What? I like it” she insisted, crossing her arms, using her tongue to toy with the inside of the snakebite piercings in her lower lip

Her sister, Katrina, sighed and put down her papers

“It’s just...the piercings, the hair...I’m sorry but it really looks terrible” she said sternly

“I mean, you are 26, and I can’t do anything about how you spend your own money, but I don’t like things like...this, are really necessary. You’re beautiful the way you are…” she started

Zoe shifted impatiently

“It’s not about that! I don’t care if you think it’s  _ terrible _ , don’t look at it if you don’t like it” she snapped before stalking down the polishing hall to her bedroom, closing it with less force than she had the front door.

Zoe stood in front of her mirror, inspecting the newly dyed streak she’d just paid to have done that afternoon. Her sister, Katrina was the secretary in a large company: permanently well groomed, calm and professional.

Everything Zoe was not, and did not care to be.

Zoe was casual, confrontational, she loved torn jeans, and hoodies, especially black and could drink the majority of her male friends under the table any day of the week. One of her first purchases with the money she saved from her waitressing job had been her snakebite piercings which she’d coveted for so many years before that. 

Running a hand carefully through the blonde streak, and touching the area around her long healed snakebites self consciously.

‘Whatever’ Zoe thought, silently reminding herself that she didn’t care what her older sister thought of her appearance, her personality, her job of choice...she was not, and never would be the clone her sister wanted her to be.

Grabbing her laptop and settling down to enter her password, Zoe entered the private webchat she’d joined two years ago. She had a few hours until she had to work, but she wanted to eat and sleep a little before then so she would make this quick.

**Zowie99 - Hey**

? - hi. Been waiting, where have you been?

**Zowie99 - Getting my hair done**

? - Let me know when you’re going out next time, I was worried

Zoe rolled her eyes and with a dead-pan expression, typed back

**Sure, sorry.**

? - So when are you coming to visit me?

**Zoiwie99 - Soon, need to get time off and make sure sis isn’t around”**

? Don’t take too long, it’s been 2 years, I want to see you

**Zowie - Don’t worry, I promise it won’t be long. Ok if I go? Need to get ready for work - make up the time tomorrow?”**

? - Fine, but don’t make me wait again

**Zowie99 - Don’t worry, babe. I’ll make it up to you, I swear - it’ll be worth it**

Zoe wanted to gag, but added a winking-face emoji at the end of her sentence and sent it, before getting to her feet, collecting some more comfortable clothing, she made her way to the bathroom to shower. 

Talking with Henry Corvin, the man who’d slaughtered her parents and nearly done the same to her, always made her feel like she needed to shower in disinfectant that had been boiled straight from the pits of hell itself.

  
  


Arriving for her shift at Catacombs Gothic Nightclub, Zoe was more than happy to lose herself in the mad rush of serving customers, keeping the bar clean and clear of glasses and generally keeping an eye on things. If the ever pulsing beat of rock and metal track served as the venue's lifeblood, then the neon illuminated dance floor was its heart. Ever full, and alive with writhing, grinding bodies of patrons, working up a thirst for the potent, biting alcoholic beverages the club served.

Although she got along with the rest of the staff, Zoes’ supervisor, Lily was the closest thing to a friend she had.

At 4am, the end of Zoes’ shift approached and Lily called out to her 

“Zoe-belle! You’re off the clock, go home!” she told her with a grin and tossed Zoe her jacket, having caught her attention in time for her to catch it

“Don’t forget your tips!” she shouted over the music

Zoe waved and pulled on her coat

“Got it, Lily! Thanks” she responded.

shifted past, somehow not tripping on the flairs of her black jeans, she took another customers order

“Love the hair!” she told Zoe, who was collecting her tips for the night - apparently simply adding a streak of blonde to her hair had been very lucrative in terms of earning her more tips than usual - mainly from the drunk guys with as much alcohol in their systems as they did sperm stored between their legs.

Lily served the customer with one hand, instigating a high five with Zoe, who returned it and smirked when Lily swiped her ass a second later

“Bitch, please, you don’t deserve me!” Zoe shouted sarcastically.

Lily was fun, feisty and unafraid to show it, and the pair had a relaxed, fun, flirtatious friendship. That Zoe appreciated, because it brought out her own more confident, relaxed personality.Briefly turning back to Lily one last time as Zoe rounded the front of the bar.

Calling out a thanks to Louie - the Catacombs main bouncer, for holding the door open for her, Zoe walked silently down the street, tucking her money into her boot and turning left into an alleyway.

It was 3:30 and freezing, but Zoe didn’t have to wait long before a young man, around the same age as her sister, stumbled into the ally, laughing alonf=g with his friend, both clearly drunk and having just crawled out of the Catacombs club which would be closing for the night. 

With her breath a barely visible cloud in the early morning air, Zoe stepped over to the pair, joining in their laughter - only being slightly tipsy herself, she effortlessly had the two men panting for her with just a toss of her head and sickly smile.

Drunk guys were always easier - it was unlikely that they would remember the next day, or if they did they would write it off as a drunken mistake or simply a dream - which worked perfectly for Zoe, who cheerfully followed them back to their shared house.

One of the two men from the alley groaned with Zoe straddling his waist, finishing him off with her hand after pulling away at the last second. 

The mans’ friend had lasted just ten minutes, before climaxing and passing out at the end of the bed, but this one, ‘Doug’ as she’d dubbed him, since she couldn’t remember what it was, actually had stamina, despite being drunk and was far more ‘attentive’ towards Zoe than his friend had been - she’d at least gotten one climax out of this anyways, and once she’d returned the favour, he’d made her come with his mouth while he rested, his alcohol flavored mouth was clumsy, his tongue sloppy, but it gave Zoe what she wanted.

The man, ‘Doug’, finally rolled off of her and Zoe cleaned herself off with a sheet and got dressed. Doug looked up at her in the dim light, taking a swig from the beer bottle that had been on his bedside desk

“Had a good time, babe! Here you go…” he slurred, tossing three £50 notes half-heartedly across the bed

Zoe pouted as she tugged on her jacket

“Aw, thanks!” she said sweetly, crawling over the mans’ lithe frame

“It’s me who should be paying you…” she moaned. The guy chuckled and slipped another £10 into her hand. Zoe then shoved him lightly so that he fell back against the pillows. He was snoring before Zoe even shut the door behind her.

Walking under a bright street lamp, however Zoes’ expression hardened and she rolled her eyes

‘Morons’ she thought to herself.

Checking the time on her mobile phone she saw it was now 5:30am. Shuffling the money ‘Doug’ had given her, mentally adding it to the total she’d made at the club as she trudged home. Not a bad night at all, but all she could think about now was getting changed and getting some sleep. 

Zoe never considered herself a hooker or a prostitute by any means, she never asked for or expected money or anything in return, it wasn’t her fault that the men, and women she picked up were often so hammered that they just...assumed. And, money - wise, Zoe Winters was hardly in a position to turn down some extra cash that was practically thrown her way after a one-night stand. The club paid well enough, but picking up little extra cash now and then never burnt a hole in ones’ pocket, did it?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This. This was why she didn’t like Scott.

The klaxon horn that was her alarm jolted Zoe awake with a frustrated groan as she swiped her phone screen to make it stop.

Dressed in a graphic band logo T-shirt, and quarter length leggings, Zoe got up, washed up in the bathroom, and headed for the kitchen, hardly blinking as she walked past her sister currently engaging in a heavy make-out session with her fiance.

Silently, Zoe took a bottle of water from the fridge and hopped onto the counter top

Personally, Zoe saw nothing about Scott to be endearing, in personality nor in looks, with his obviously fake tan, swell of bicep muscle that almost threatened to break the seam of the shirt and suit that seemed sealed to his body like a second skin, and his hair was so full of product Zoe wondered how many hours he actually took tending to it every morning, and just how greasy her sisters hand felt after dragging it back through the thick black locks of her boyfriend as she did now.

Zoe swung her legs slightly from her perch on the counter top

“Morning Scott” she chimed with a dead-pan expression, unscrewing the cap from the bottle and taking a drink, watching her sister and partner spring apart

“Come on, spook, when are you going to NOT do that?” Scott demanded, straightening his jacket and tie

Zoe thought for a moment

“When you quit calling me ‘Spook’” she answered, taking another drink

Katrina rolled her eyes, trying to hide the blush in her cheeks

“Zoe…” she warned sternly.

Her sister slipped down from the counter

“Or when I’m seven feet under, whichever comes first!” she added, taking her drink to her bedroom

Scott smirked

“I think the phrase is six feet under, dipshit!” he corrected spitefully

Leaning against the doorway, Zoe glared at him

“Depends on how much effort you put into burying me alive,  _ dickhead _ ” she retorted.

Scott tensed and Katrina stepped forward angrily

“Zoe, knock it off!” she urged loudly.

Receiving a middle finger and the slam of Zoes’ bedroom door in response and the blaring sound of ‘Zombie’ by the Cranberries promptly being turned up to near full volume from Zoes’ bedroom.

Katrina shook her head and wrapped her arms around Scots’ neck

“Sorry, babe. I know I always say that but…”

She was cut off by Scots mouth meeting hers briefly as he interrupted

“Well, it’s only been two years, maybe she just needs some time to get used to me” he joked, smoothing his hands down his fiances’ waist.

Meanwhile, Zoe, now logged into her laptop and exchanging messages with Henry Craven once more, turned the volume of her CD play up to tune out her sisters giggling from the other side of the door.

Between typing replies to her parents murderer, Zoe took the uncompleted rubix cube from her bedside table. Looking forward to the day she completed her latest challenge and added it to her small collection which sat on her desk opposite the bed.

Some were patterned, some plain but multi-coloured, another was white with a silhouette of a wolf, howling at a full moon, it had been a gift from her father when she was 8 years old. Even now Zoe could recall how their dad would sit for hours helping and encouraging her to solve the puzzle and make up that, admittedly pretty, but plain wolf picture on that puzzle box. 

Turning back to the laptop, Zoe typed a reply to Cravins’ latest message, it showed that he was no longer online so she sent the message and switched off the computer as soon as she had done so.

Zoe had been in contact with Henry Cravin for almost a year now, not that he knew her real identity - to him she was Zowie99, a knife wielding, alternatively dressed young woman who got off by talking with dangerous prisoners. Even ones who only got a 30 year sentance for the murder of two innocent victims and the attempted murder of a teenager nine years ago.

Finding an online chat room for prisoners looking to connect with people on the outside, creating a fake profile and tweaking her online personality to fit what Henry Cravin liked had almost been too easy. Even though keeping up the charade was emotionally exhausting and made her nauseated every time she had to ‘speak’ with him, Zoe always reminded herself that it would be worth it in the end.

She hadn’t decided what she was going to do yet, but she was going to make her parents killer pay - she thought it hilarious that she, a 26 year old woman bartender, could think up far more fitting punishments for her parents murderer than any flimsy justice system could - 30 years...it wasn’t good enough. Life should mean life in Zoes’ opinion, and Cravin had taken not just her mother but her father as well, along with the future she’d already started planning at 16...Henry Cravin had also slaughtered the person Zoe herself  _ could  _ have been had she not gone through the trauma of that night of the home invasion.

Lately though, he had been more insistent on her visiting him in prison, in person, and Zoe had been able to put it off, with various excuses, even going so far as to promise him and half-heartedly arrange a visit, only to call it off due to her ‘suddenly’ getting too sick to go.

This, along with stringing him along with lies about her work schedule and her older sisters’ involvement in her life provided the perfect, if not limitless amount of excuses to put off this visit. But Henry Cravin was getting impatient, and Zoe knew she wasn’t going to be able to put it off forever. Not that she wanted to, in fact she wanted to be grateful that he was pushing her into a visit - it made her even more determined to come up with the perfect way of avenging her parents deaths. 

The banging on her door made Zoe jump slightly, but she got to her feet and turned down the music before opening her bedroom door to find Katrina, looking annoyed but not looking for an argument

“I’m going to work, can you do the shopping today? The list is on the counter, pick up whatever else you want that isn’t on there” 

Her eyes, a few shades lighter than her sisters, met Zoes’ and the younger sibling nodded

“Fine, I need to go out anyway, are you here or at the Trolls place tonight?” she asked casually

Katrina ran perfectly manicured hand through her hair

“Zoe, can you at least try and get along with Scott? I mean, he will be living with us soon, right?” she reminded her sister, even though a date hadn’t been fixed for the wedding yet.

Zoe rolled her shoulders with an unhappy expression

“Whatever, at least get him to stop calling me ‘Spook’ just because I dress alternatively and have piercings, it’s getting really old” she demanded

Katrina conceded

“I’ll talk to him, promise. I told you, I'd always be there for you, right? And I will, but you need to accept that Scott is in my life too, right? We’ll be staying here tonight to answer your question.”

Feeling a twinge of guilt in her gut, Zoe nodded

“Right, pizza tonight then? On me...” she offered

Katrina nodded, pleased that her sister was at least trying

“Great, Scott and I will be back at around 6 so order it for around 6:20…?” 

Zoe agreed

“Right, see you later.” 

Katrina, with a grateful look, kissed her sisters’ cheek and waved as she left for work with Scott leading her out of the door of the flat.

Zoe, now having the flat to herself, turned up her music once more, and got dressed. Black jeans and trainers, red t-shirt and black oversized denim jacket.

She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about Scott she didn’t like, but he just came across as fake whenever he was trying to be ‘nice’ smug when he was trying to be ‘humble’ and a slimy, spiteful bastard when he  _ wasn’t  _ feeling ‘Kind.’ 

The 26 year old mulled over this as she went about her day, picking up food and basic household cleaning supplies they’d run out of from the supermarket. Zoe even considered the possibility that her sisters’ fiance had to wait until his muscles outgrew his suits and shed them like a snake and put on a new one, waiting in his wardrobe, a size or two bigger than the one he currently wore. The idea made her smirk, and she carried on with her day, as planned, she picked up a few things from a nearby alternative clothing store, then pharmercy before going home.

Zoe wasn’t surprised when, after putting away the food and cleaning supplies, and putting her bag of newly bought clothes, she found several messages from Henry Cravin waiting for her as soon as she returned to the chat-room.

HC - Where are you?

HC - Are you alright?

HC - Answer me!

HC - For Fucks sake don’t screw me around!

HC - I told you to tell me what you were doing!

HC- Just because I’m inside doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want, you’re mine!

HC- Sorry about before, just so worried, please message me

HC- I know people on the outside, my friends will be watching to make sure you’re not fucking anyone else!” 

Zoe had dealt with this before, and she’d heard him talk about ‘friends’ on the outside. While she was wary, she didn’t fully believe him, knowing if he really did have a way of getting to her from prison, he would have done so already.

But as she typed out pleading, sorrowful replies, saying she had ‘suddenly’ decided to go shopping for the perfect outfit for when they would finally ‘meet’.

Since uploading photographs and videos was (thankfully) not possible given the special measures in place for prisoners in contact with online ‘friends’ Zoe typed out a fictional description of an outfit she knew, from getting to know the murderous piece of scum, would love. And cringed as she pressed send.

HC - Fuck, that’s hot. You really know what I like don’t you?

Zoe swallowed thickly, digging her nails so hard into her skin it made hard, crescent mood indents on in her pale flesh, yet kept her nerve, replying ‘enthusiastically’ while reassuring him that she was ‘working on’ getting visiting rights, she lied about having to work and, after half an hour of feigning long, sappy, pleading replies until he allowed her to leave the chat, Zoe spent an hour researching prison visitation laws, and working on the best way of doing so, perhaps under the guise of a long lost relative? She wondered how difficult it would be to do.

Zoe woke with a start a few hours later, upon checking her phone she found that it was almost 6 already; working nights meant her sleep schedule was virtually non-existent, but she was more than used to it by now, and quickly changed into a pair of leggings and dark blue hoodie and order the pizza, asking for it to be delivered for around 6:30 - this would give Katrina plenty of time to shower and change before the food arrived. 

Zoe put away the clothes she’d bought, and cleaned her display of completed rubix cubes on her desk. They’d been gathering dust and it was another job she wouldn’t have to do tomorrow when she eventually tumbled out of bed with the grace of an obese elephant, and well past 12pm if Zoe had her way about it she decided as she cleaned her collection.

Next to the basic black and white wolf print puzzle box was one that Katrina had specially made for Zoe, created from a copy of a photograph of the sisters, with their parents, the last photo of the whole family together. Katrina had given it to Zoe as a gift, that first christmas after their parents death, and had been  the first one she ever solved, without her father there to help or encourage her

When she was done Zoe had to admit, although dreading dinner with Scott, she was feeling more relaxed since she wasn’t needed at work until 9pm the next night, and by the time she exited her bedroom, the pizza delivery boy had buzzed the door, Zoe frowned, checking the time again - 6;32. 

The delivery boy apologised for any delay concerning the food, Zoe paid, and gave him a £6 tip since he seemed nervous and was clearly new to the job.

Setting out the food and drink she’d bought for herself, sister and her...soon to be brother in law...Zoe texted her sister to find out when she would be home.

Five minutes passed, with the food steadily growing colder, when Zoe received a text, from her sisters phone, but certainly NOT from Katrina herself

Decided to surprise your sister with a fancy meal out - enjoy your food, ‘Spook.’ 

Only one person called her that, and only one person was petty enough to ‘surprise’ Katrina with a meal, knowing full well that she, Zoe had already paid for dinner.

This.  _ This  _ was why she didn’t like Scott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spook: synonym for ghost, or spectres, also another word for Spies.


	4. Make It Sensless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something told Zoe that this was going to be far more satisfying than that pathetic excuse of a hook up against the wall of the Catacombs.

Zoe tucked her hands in her pockets against the chilly night air as she headed to the Catacombs, she wasn’t working but she could at least get a drink, have a dance and burn off some of the anger ignited in her gut.

After reading Scotts text she’d suddenly lost her appetite, but forced herself to eat at least a little, he knew she’d be grateful for it later with the amount she was planning to drink that night. At least there would be plenty of leftovers for her to eat over the next two or three days.

So for the next few hours, Zoe drank, and danced away her troubles, even joining a group of girls in a shot drinking contest, they cheered and shouted happily over the metal music playing over the speakers, and, as she left, ran into one of the girls she’d been doing shots with, offering to walk the cute, rather drunk, young woman home, complimenting her pixie cut hair which was dyed multiple different vibrant colours, they spent another few hours drinking and fucking until early morning.

By the time she arrived home, Zoe was very sober, and very hungover. But after a shower, a glass of water and some painkillers, she collapsed into bed and passed out.

The klaxon of her alarm sounded at 8pm, letting her know it was time to get up and get ready for work - there was no sign of her sister, or Scott, so she grabbed some left-overs from last night, showered and dressed for work, ignoring the message alert on her laptop which she knew was from Cravin.

Typically she had a blast at work, but by the time her shift finished the next morning, Zoe was relieved to be outside in the fresh air. 

Arriving home, but still completely wired, Zoe entered the kitchen, searching for what was left of her dinner from a couple of nights ago...finding nothing.

At that moment, Scott, dressed in only his boxers, exited the bathroom

Zoe turned on him

“Where the hell is my food, dickhead?” she demanded

Scott smirked and shrugged

“Kat and I finished it last night, you weren’t here, and you bought it for all of us anyway Spook, so what’s the big deal?” he scoffed

Zoe frowned and took several steps towards him

“You took Katrina out for dinner when you knew I had already bought food, Scott. You such assh-”

Zoe was interrupted as Scotts hand made sharp contact with her cheek, and she was pushed back against the wall

“Look here, you little bitch, your sister and me are getting married, yeah? You can’t stop that, and don’t think for one moment…” he hissed, clenching his hand over her mouth, digging his fingers into either side of her jaw painfully hard

“Don’t even consider that you might still be living here once Kat and I are married! As soon as she has my last name, you’re out on your ass, I mean, 26 and still living with your big sister? Time to grow up and get out, bitch!” he snarled, pulling Zoe forward and slamming her back into the wall. 

Scott stepped back, and Katrina called out from her bedroom

“Zoe! How many times, don’t slam the damned door so early in the morning!” she called

“Scott, you coming back to bed, baby?”

Scott called back, his posture calm, and his tone was bright once more

“Yeah Kit-Kat! Just saying hi to your sister, thought you were still asleep?”

Scott glared threateningly at Zoe, but she said nothing, tears stung her eyes from the pain, Zoe, rubbing the newly formed bruise on the back of her head, grimaced _Kit-Kat…_

Zoe recalled a time when her sister would have slapped a guy into a concussion for such a sickly endearment. Now though, once Scott had slithered back into Katrinas’ bedroom and closed the door , all Zoe could hear was mumbling and giggling. Zoe, enraged, rolled her eyes with a grimace and slammed her bedroom door, hard.

Unable to calm down enough to get any sleep, Zoe changed into a comfortable pair of leggings and oversized t-shirt, switching on her laptop, only to find about 12 messages from Henry Corvin.

After scanning the various demands, threats, apologies, ‘sweet’ words and promises, then more threats, Zoe found a link he’d sent: an online visitors form for her to fill out and send back to him in order to gain a visiting invitation.

After hesitating for a while, Zoe meticulously filled out the form, with a few...changes to her name and other details the daughter of Henry Cravins dead victims and main witness at his trial, and sent the completed form back.

Going to the kitchen she found that Scott had obviously left in complete chaos on purpose, along, she also found some remains of her leftovers had not been eaten or even attempted to be eaten but simply dumped in the rubbish bin. Zoe then went to her room, dressed in black skinny jeans and a grey hoodie, slipping on her lightweight black trainers and set up her laptop - deciding to get the last laugh on Scott, at least for now.

Once she was in the lobby of the building, Zoe swiped at her phone and scrolled. Four floors up the distant heavy base of the band Disturbed blasted from her speakers, along with Katrina and Scott yelling over the music, and each other, and yelling at Zoe - not knowing that Zoe, in fact, wasn't in her bedroom, but darting out of the building and down the street.

Zoe didn’t even bother going home to change, instead she stayed out until, grabbing take out before her shift at the Catacombs started at 9:30.

Mid-way into her shift, Zoe raked back the blond streak in her hair as she called for her next customer, finding the six ft + male to be the perfect definition of tall, dark and handsome, he smirked, deliberately meeting her gaze. Zoe barely heard his order but managed to get it right nonetheless, adding in a free shot, with his encouragement she took one for herself - it was new, and she choked upon finding it was - in fact, vile, but her customer seemed to enjoy it, knocking back the hard liquor with no issue! 

“I’m Zoe” she called over the music

“Sean”

“What’s your sign Sean?”

He chuckled and took a deep drink from his glass of beer

“Scorpio. Yours?” he answered

Zoe smirked

“Hazardous” she hissed back, taking another shot and hoping Lily didn’t notice

Seans’ smile darkened

“You coming up for a break, Hazard?” he inquired

“Coming up for a lot more than a break, if you’re interested” Zoe retorted easily.

Zoe Winters groaned as she was slammed up against the wall of the club, in the alley between the Catacombs and the building beside it, Sean tugged down her black shots and grey and white striped tights roughly, hoisting her up until she was, rather awkwardly, straddling his waist.

The distant beat of **Sias'** song Titanium could be heard and felt even through the sturdy brick wall that clawed at her skin but Zoe focused on the man currently holding her there: Sean, still little more than a stranger to her, nipped at her lower lip, pestering her with the touch of his teeth at her snakebite piercings as he thrust into her, hard and deep, again and again.

He came, she didn’t.

Zoe groaned, she’d been so close, and if Sean had paid any attention he would have seen that! Instead, with his seed dripping down her thighs, Zoe was dropped, unceremoniously to her feet

“What the hell…” she started, breathlessly while Sean fixed himself and buckled his jeans

He paused and shrugged

“You’re good, haven't had someone make me come that fast for a while Here, I spent all my cash in the club.”

He offered her a plastic bag, it smelt...weird, wrong...but whatever was inside was squeare, no cube shaped and Zoe snatched it

Sean, unperturbed by her attitude went on

“I’ve only got it on me because some homeless guy I passed on the way here forced me to take it, to say thanks because I knocked out some arsehole trying to rob him. But it’s not really my thing so you might as well take it. See around Chloe” he shouted, making his way back inside.

Zoe stared after him angrily, looking inside the bag she found nothing compelling, but then the glow of the dying street lamp made it hard to discern what exactly was inside - Zoe assumed it was box of something, drugs maybe, if not money. She tied up handles of the plastic bag together, intending on tucking it away with her jacket as she stalked inside to finish her shift - her break was over anyway.

After returning home, showering and changing into a black pair of shorts and mint green and black striped t-shirt,Zoe entered her bedroom having almost forgotten about the bag until she kicked it as she passed her bed. 

Sitting on the edge of her bed she looked inside for the first time.

It was a puzzle box! Gold, intricately carved with intense designs on each panel. And there was something else, something that compelled her to look closer, turning the object in her hands, scrutinizing every inch of the incomplete puzzle. And, whatever this feeling was, it seemed to tell her, no...it _promised_ that this one shitty night, would be worth whatever solving this puzzle meant.

Something compelled Zoe, like the instinct that drove any animal to do what was in its nature: drink, Feed, hunt, kill, mate...that was the best explanation for what Zoe felt as she shifted the first panel, she had to solve this puzzle box. Something told her it was going to be far more satisfying that that pathetic excuse of a hook up against the wall of the Catacombs.


	5. In your Head, In your Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe uses the mysterious puzzel box now in her possession to escape her ongoing familial problems, with more trouble to come in the form of the 'Sweetness and Light' form of Tilly Rogers, whom, it turns out, is no stranger to poor Zoe.

_The sound of gunshots...her parents screams...wait, no! Those were her own screams!_

Zoe yelled, jolting awake with pain shooting through her back and the residual ‘pop’ of a gun going off!! Zoe rolled over in the wet patch that had appeared beneath her, in the doorway to her bedroom, Scott was laughing loudly, with a gun in his hands, red was splattered on the sheets of Zoes’ bed

“The fuck, Scott,  _ what did you do _ ?” she screamed in terror, grabbing at the wet patch on her back where the projectile had hit the middle of her back,

Scott, with his oily hair slicked back,was wearing some kind of protective clothing over his shirt and jeans, simply cackled

“Calm your tits, bitch, it’s just a god-damned  _ paintball _ , you should have seen your fuckin’face!” the man struggled between his laughter.

Zoe, finally calming down slightly, upon realizing that he had just shot her with a red paintball from across the room, and  _ not  _ a real bullet

“You prick!”

Scott walked into her bedroom, slapping her head with the letter from his pocket

“For  _ you _ . Anyway, what are you going to do about it, Spook? Fucks’ sake just take a joke.” 

He curled his index finger inwards and harshly flicked Zoes set of snakebites spitefully, the younger woman snatched the letter from him, only to be cuffed around the head by Scotts, she slapped his hand away and shouted at the top of her voice

“Get the fuck out of my room before I wrap my dildo in sandpaper and shove it so far down your throat it comes out of your piss hole!”

Scott snorted derisively 

“ _ Classy _ ” he snapped.

Zoe was now standing and trying to physically shove him out of the door, she yelped as he landed a punch to the back, above where the paintball had hit her

“Kat told me you were having a lie in, I decided you needed get off your ass and clean up a bit, so get to it, your sister does so much for you, the least you can do is make sure the place is fucking clean. I’ve got paintball booked for 8am, later, Bitch!”

Scott stepped on the letter that had fallen on the floor and slammed Zoes’ bedroom door. Zoe scowled, wiping her teary eyes furiously. 

Checking her phone she’s that Scott had woken her at 7;30am! 

She paused to examine the damage done to her bedsheets, finding that her pillows had shielded the puzzle box at least, so she collected it, and the letter Scott had slapped her with, and put them into her bedside drawer.

How the hell was she going to cope with living with Scott once he and Katrina got married? It was bad enough that he stayed the night 60% of the week, but living with him full time just, it made Hell sound like a prime extended vacation spot! Zoe thought through this as she showered, changed and stripped her ruined bedsheets and duvet. Screwing up the contents into a large plastic bag before sitting, cross legged on her bare mattress miserably.

  
  


While shopping in the highstreet - for replacement sheets and bed covers, Zoe ran into Lily and the pair picked up coffee to take away, with Lily ordering two drinks for herself and the pair chatted as they walked.

Zoe laughed at something she’d said and Lily stuck her pierced tongue out at her good naturedly before remembering something

“Oh, come to the club with me, for a drink not to work obviously, one of the trainees dropped out and we hired someone who knew, I want you to meet them, you’re not busy are you?” Lily practically begged

“Duh, girl with no life over here” Zoe retorted and walked along with Lily to the club.

The Catacombs Club was,o of course, closed to customers but Lily opened the door, and It became clear now that the second drink she’d picked up at the cafe was for this mysterious new trainee and Lily hopped onto the bar, shouting out to the back room behind her

“Tilly, Hey I want you to meet another one of the others! And I got your coffee!” 

A second later a slim, petit blond with the figure worthy of a vogue model and balancing perfectly on slim, black stilettos, Lilys’ new trainee appeared: stepping around the bar, wearing neon green fishnet tights, black short-shorts and, taking the drink with a sweet smile and thank you to her superior, the trainee looked at Zoe, who had stopped dead in her tracks

“Tilly Rogers?” she stammered, suddenly feeling her cheeks grow heated and her palms go clammy as a single thought hammered in her head like thunder

‘Not her,  _ anyone  _ but Tilly,  _ fucking _ , Rogers!’ 

Tilly’s blue, doll-like eyes widened

“Zoe Winters? Well shit.” she spat, leaning on the bar and taking a sip of her drink

Lily swung her legs, unaware of the sudden tension in the room

“Oh, you know each other already? Great!” she cheered.

Tilly, however was smirking like a con-man that had picked out their next vulnerable target

“Oh yeah, we were best friends in secondary school.” 

Tilly crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up so far they were in danger of falling out of her mint-green, low cut crop top

“I was her first girl crush, apparently!” she smirked unpleasantly

Oblivious to the tension, Lily cheered

“Aw! That’s sweet, must be a blast from the past eh, Zoe?” 

But Zoe was tense, and swallowed thickly, not intending to have a shouting match with Tilly Rogers in the middle of work, even if Zoe herself was off the clock

“Yeah” the brunette said weakly.

Lily went on, describing how much of an asset Tilly was proving to be already, some great suggestions she’d made regarding the Catacombs, and her awesome sense of style, and nack for interacting with customers.

“Sorry, I have to go, I’ll see you when I’m back next week and we can...catch up then”

Zoe self-consciously tucked her blond streak behind her ear, and growing increasingly uncomfortable in Tillys’ presence, interrupted

“Look, I need to erm, get going. Promised my lot” meaning Scott and Katrina

“That I would cook. Good seeing you again Tilly, we can catch up once I’m back next week”

With a short goodbye to her and Lily, Zoe ducked out of the bar so quickly that her shopping bags bumped against her legs.

As soon as she got home, Zoe opened the bottle of cider from the fridge, turned up the volume of her music.

It was true, Tilly  _ had  _ been her best friend, a long time ago, but things went far deeper than Tilly herself had made out in that sickly, sweeter than honey voice that dripped with venom.

Not wanting to dwell on it, Zoe picked up the puzzle box, hoping concentrating on it, and the music playing, would distract her. She spent the entire day trying to work out the strange mechanisms and panels, finding great intrigue in the way the sides moved and slotted together, everything...her fears, her worries...it all seemed to disappear in an inconsequential fog in the back of her mind when she sat with the box in her hands.

In fact, she didn’t realize how much time had passed until Katrina and Scott returned from work, late since they’d gone out for dinner. Zoe sat on her bed, dressed in the t-shirt and shorts she’d worn to bed the previous night, with golden puzzle box in her lap, tapping her foot to the beat of ‘The Scorpions’ playing in the background, looked up when Katrina barged in, looking irate

“Enjoying yourself?” she inquired

Zoe, immediately on the defensive, looked up but continued toying with the puzzle box

“Yes thanks” she responded flippantly

Katrina crossed her arms

“Scott said you’d promised to clean the flat today, why hasn’t anything been done?” she demanded, looking stressed, and very much over-worked

Zoe raised her brow in surprise

“I didn’t promise jack-shit, that dickhead woke me up at 7am, on my day off, shot me with a paintball gun and demanded that I clean the entire flat! The only things’ by the sink is my plate, that Iused an hour ago, and the empty bottle of Cider I left to rinse and drain later on!”

Katrina however, was busy looking inside the plastic bag beside the doorway

“And what the hell is this, Zoe for gods’ sake these cost a fortune, they’re ruined!” she argued, picking up the bag containing her sisters paint stained bed sheets as though it were filled with toxic waste

Zoe got to her feet

“I just told you, Katrina, that prick of a boyfriend of yours shot be with a  _ fucking  _ paintball gun, bruised my back and made me think I was actually being shot!”

Katrina dropped the bag in anger

“Stop this, Zoe. Scott knows about what happened when we were younger, he knows you’re a bit…he wouldn’t use our trauma to torment you or me, now I’ve had enough of you lying and saying these things simply to get Scott and I to separate, you need to get your attitude in check and stop trying to make me as miserable and unhappy as you are!”

With that, Katrina slammed the door and the sound Katrina and Scott started arguing in the living room could be heard seconds later.

Setting up her CD player and Playing the Cranberries song, Zombie, almost full blast to drown out the sound, Zoe went back to twisting and turning the Puzzle box in her hands.

After about half an hour she remembered that she’d not looked at her laptop in a while, and that she’d been neglecting her online ‘relationship’ with Henry Cravin! Zoe brought her laptop onto the bed, booted it up, and came upon the countless messages Cravin had left in her absence. 

She replied that she’d been busy working extra shifts to pay for her trip to meet him, buying some special accessories, as she wanted to look perfect on their first meeting and generally placating him for the next few hours.

The puzzle box rested n on the mattress beside Zoes’ pillows.

  
  


_ Zoe tumbled down the stairs of the basement, scrambling across the concrete floor to escape the approaching footsteps of her attacker. She reached the laundry room, slammed and locked the door, heart thudding, pulse beating, drumming in her ears as she shuffled back, breathing heavily in fear. _

_ Then there came the hammering on the door as her parents murderer tried to break down the door,, the knife came stabbing through the wood after several attempts, sending pieces of wood splintering at her feet... Zoe looked down to find a golden coloured, integatly carved puzzle box was in her hands... _

  
  


Zoe woke with a scream to Katrina shaking her, calling out to get her attention

“Zoe, Zoe it’s ok! You’re just dreaming again..”

Zoe slowly came back to herself, her forehead damp with cold sweat, her fingers trembling, but Katrina sat on the edge of her sisters

“I thought they’d gotten better…” she said sadly 

Zoe shrugged

“They have, they don’t happen quite so much now. Sorry…” she grumbled, seeing that Katrina had pulled her dressing gown on in a hurry over her pyjamas.

Katrina sighed but ran a hand through the blond streak in Zoes’ hair

“Never mind, Zoe. Just try and go back to sleep, or do one of your puzzel box things if you can’t, ok?”

Katrina got to her feet

“I’ll get some water” She stood to do just that.

Zoe had suffered nightmares almost continuosly after their parents murder, having been the only one of the two sisters in the house and coming out the only survivor had caused some...damage to her sister, mentally and emotionally for a long time.

She always made sure Zoe felt safe and protected when she woke from these nightmares - which, recently seemed to have been reoccouring less and less over the years, until recently.

Once she’d returned and pushed the glass of water into her sisters’ hand. Zoe avoided her sisters gaze

“I’m sorry I’m so messed up...I’ll understand if you can’t wait to get rid of me…” she mumbled, angry that tears stung her eyes and made the back of her throat itch. The nightmares always left her...vulnerable.

Katrina frowned and touched her sisters shoulder as she took a sip of water

“Don’t be an idiot, you’re my sister: family. You drive me nuts, I worry about you almost constantly, and you can be a pain in my arse, and there’ll always be a home for you here.

“Scotts said...”

Katrina however, didn’t hear her, and went on

“I just wish you’d try to make more of your life than just...getting by the way you do, you’ve got so much talent, Zoe, it’s a shame to waste it, hm?” she urged

“Katrina, Scotts’ been saying…”

Katrina let her features crease and her eyes grow weary

“Not this again, Zoe, I thought you were going to try and get along with Scott...Look, never mind”

“Katrina…” Zoe put her glass on her bedside table but she was interrupted once more as Katrina waved a hand

“We’ll talk about it another time. Just concentrate on getting a good nights’ rest, you have work tomorrow evening…?”

Zoe slumped back against her pillows, defeated and too tired to confront Katrina about Scott, shook her head

“Lily gave me a couple of days off, paid, since a couple of part-timers have been given some extra shifts for more training”

Katrina smiled

“Good, you can use it to get some rest, maybe think through things a bit. I’d been getting worried about how much time you spend there when you could do something much more worthwhile. I’ve always said I’d put in a good word at the office for you, maybe something part time, or temping…?” she offered

“Just something to think about, Zoe. Get some sleep, and I’ll make sure you get a lie in tomorrow” she smiled and left the room.

Zoe relaxed with a soft exhale

‘Finally!’ 

After making sure Katrina had truly gone, and Zoe heard her sisters bedroom door shut seconds later, the 26 year old leant over the edge of her bed, feeling around blindly until she finally found what she’d been looking for. 

The puzzle box, luckily it had fallen onto the floor and part way under the bed, out of sight. Zoe toyed with the object, disappointed that she’d fallen asleep before she could solve it, and confused as to why the object, which had randomly come into her possession just hours ago, would appeared in the nightmare she’d suffered regularly since the night of her parents murder. 

Knowing her dream had wound her up past the point of getting a peaceful nights’ rest, Zoe sat looking over the puzzle box, occasionally sliding a panel into place or simply running a fingertip through the maze of carvings it possessed. 


End file.
